This invention relates generally to the field of amusement ride devices and more specifically to a portable amusement riding device that allows passengers to move in random directions as the floor of the ride tilts and rotates.
Amusement park rides have been pleasing children and adults around the world for over one hundred years. Some amusement rides have become portable and are mounted on flatbed trucks and taken from town to town to be used at various fairs and entertainment events.
Some previously invented portable amusement rides include:
U.S. Pat. No. 921,416 issued in 1906 describes an amusement device that uses circular cars or carriages that can travel down an undulating, downwardly slanting track. The cars can rock from side to side as they proceed down the track.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,521 issued in 1989 discloses a whirlpool amusement ride that includes floating vehicles that are lifted and then released into a circular pond that has swirling water creating a vortex.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,282 shows a spinning water ride apparatus that uses round floating rafts riding on a thin layer of water and where the rafts can travel down a cork screw track to an end point.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,449 shows a water pinball ride where riders float down an angled giant pinball field and can bump into obstacles or flippers along the way.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,210,955 discloses an amusement ride system that uses a vehicle to maneuver over a water type travel surface where the vehicle has a drive assembly that can help the vehicle maneuver along the travel surface.
Although the above patents describe amusement devices that allow people to ride small cars in unpredictable fashion down a travel path or surface, there are deficiencies in the prior technologies. First, many of the rides described would be hard to translate into a portable amusement ride that can be deployed from the bed of a truck. Second, the amusement devices do not take advantage of centrifugal motion that can add additional excitement and unpredictability to the ride. Third, the riders can not engage with other riders in a “bumper car” fashion.